Worker Sues Heating Equipment Company Over Cash in Stock Plan

A former Norman S. Wright Mechanical Equipment Corp. employee filed a proposed class action challenging the investment strategy in the heating and cooling company’s employee stock ownership plan.

The plan, which primarily invests in the private company’s stock, held more than $11 million in cash-like accounts that produced negligible returns as of 2024, the employees alleged. This strategy was imprudent for long-term retirement savings, and it wasn’t justified by extenuating circumstances like an imminent need to purchase shares, plaintiff Christopher Dawson-Roberts said in a complaint filed Feb. 6 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

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